Open burn season ends on Sunday

When backyard burning closes on Sunday afternoon, that doesn’t mean that the smoke that often accompanies the arrival of fall in Douglas County will be gone.

Large agricultural burns are conducted under different rules than those applying to backyard burning and are likely to conduct burns into the winter.

But vegetation isn’t the only source of smoke in the Valley in winter, which begins on Tuesday with the solstice.

Woodstoves and fireplaces combined with the inversion layer that often accompanies cold still days will contribute some to the general pall.

Officially, Sunday is the last day for seasonal open burning in the East Fork Fire Protection District.

Burning has been open in the district since Oct. 26 to assist homeowners with clean-up of natural vegetation debris in order to maintain defensible space.

Anyone seeking to burn must download a permit at www.eastfork.org and call the listed burn line number.

Burning may start at 7 a.m. and continue through 3 p.m., with all fires extinguished at 3:30 p.m.

Members of the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team will be burning at Lake Tahoe depending on conditions, taking advantage of recent snow to reduce brush and grass that could contribute to a wildfire next spring.